On a gloomy and wet California day, director Catherine Hardwicke curls up in her office on the Warner Bros. lot with a book in her hand. This isn’t your average bedtime story. It’s called "Little Red Riding Hood Uncloaked: Sex, Morality, and the Evolution of a Fairy Tale."

The transformation of the book industry has reached a tipping point. Electronic books now outsell paperbacks on Amazon, the retailer recently announced. And Borders, the second-largest bookstore chain in the United States, is reportedly considering a bankruptcy filing.

Should I call you Nicole or Snooki?
Nicole, please.
Do most people call you Nicole?
No, but I miss it.
You got a lot of attention for tweeting your support for John McCain because he wouldn’t tax tanning.

Now is the time that members of the Academy start filling out their Oscar ballots, and the Globe selections are like a Facebook status update that says "Watch me!" We offer the biggest winners, losers, and surprises.

The CEO of The Bridge is in the business of celebrity dolls, but he's no dummy. In the 1990s, working for another toy company, he flew to London to secure the rights to the Spice Girls dolls. Now he's tapping into the Justin Bieber mania for his next breakout doll.

Anne Hathaway is generating Oscar buzz for her risky turn in "Love and Other Drugs." She plays Maggie, a 20-something with Parkinson's disease. But that's not what makes the role so flashy. It's the flashing.

The new "Harry Potter" movie starts with a close-up shot of the Minister of Magic, who barks: “These are dark times. There’s no denying it.” You’re obviously supposed to notice the 2010 subtext, but it’s hard to make that leap when the film itself looks like it was shot under a storm cloud.